Thurleigh Equestrian Centre

Thurleigh Equestrian Centre The peaceful setting provides a relaxed environment for training on our horses or with your own horse.

An established riding school, livery yard and equine assisted learning provider, focused on building harmony with the horse, supported by great staff and excellent facilities in Thurleigh, Bedford. Thurleigh Equestrian Centre is a top class dressage training facility and livery yard located just 6 miles outside of Bedford and within close distance to a variety of competition venues. We offer one t

o one dressage lessons on a range of experienced school masters and have excellent facilities including a 20x 40m indoor and international size outdoor arena and extensive off-road riding with direct access to the bridleway network. With 7 livery stables available Thurleigh Equestrian Centre prides itself on being able to offer a bespoke and friendly service where livery owners and horses can experience a personal approach. Our indoor and outdoor arenas are available to hire throughout the week. We also have regular visits from dressage trainers including Char Lassetter and Kim Ratcliffe.

31/08/2026

It's been a summer of many gains and one very large loss.

We now have three lovely turnout pens ready for winter, a new indoor arena surface, freshly stained fencing, clean, painted stables and all the gutters cleared. It’s just the driveway left to top up before the weather turns and some new fencing to put in once the ground is a little softer!

Getting here has required:
• 70 litres of paint
• 80 tonnes of new arena surface
• 10 tonnes of rubber chippings
• 10 tonnes of sand
• 90 Jelka mats
• Countless hours of hard work

It is great to finally see the outcome of all the hard work, though this has been overshadowed by the loss of Millie who has been with us since we moved in, so it feels very strange not having her around on the yard anymore.

Thank you so much to you all for the lovely comments and memories of Millie, it means a lot and has helped get us through a difficult few days 💜

An Un-fillable Space on the Yard 🐾 💜It is with very heavy hearts that we share the news that our wonderful Golden Retrie...
29/08/2026

An Un-fillable Space on the Yard 🐾 💜
It is with very heavy hearts that we share the news that our wonderful Golden Retriever, Millie slipped away peacefully at the vets on Thursday evening.

For everyone who visited the equestrian centre, she was a fixture of daily life here. Whether she was greeting visitors at the gate, barking for treats, lying in the middle of the driveway keeping a watchful eye over the yard, or supervising lessons in the indoor arena, she touched so many lives.

She had the gentlest, kindest soul, especially when it came to her dog, cat and horse friends. She was the yard cats' greatest companion, often found sharing a patch of sun with them and loved all the horses she shared her days with.

The yard feels so quiet without her barking and footsteps following us into the barn, and there is an un-fillable space in our daily routine and in our hearts.

Thank you to everyone who loved her and gave her treats, cuddles and attention over the 13 years she was with us. She was truly one of a kind and will always be a big part of this place. 🐾 ❤️

14/08/2026

Love this visual summary of what the Progressive Strides at Thurleigh Equestrian Centre students have achieved, supported by an amazing team of staff and our fabulous horses and minis 😍

⛔️ MILL ROAD CLOSURE - 9.30am -3pm - MON 17th AUGUST TO WED 19th AUGUST ⛔️Mill Road will be closed at the Milton Road en...
14/08/2026

⛔️ MILL ROAD CLOSURE - 9.30am -3pm - MON 17th AUGUST TO WED 19th AUGUST ⛔️
Mill Road will be closed at the Milton Road end from 9.30am on Monday 17th August for two days, so if you are coming to the yard you will need to come in from Robins Folly or the Ravensden end of Mill Road.

If you are unsure about how to get to us please get in contact and we can let you know the best route in, thanks.

☀️ Summer Project Update! ☀️We are so excited to kick off our first summer project: building a brand-new turnout area fo...
02/08/2026

☀️ Summer Project Update! ☀️

We are so excited to kick off our first summer project: building a brand-new turnout area for the horses to make our life easier in the winter!

Even though it’s hard to think about mud during this drought, this will give us a fantastic second all-weather turnout space for the winter. It can also double as an extra summer paddock if needed.

Here’s our progress so far:
🐴 Step 1: Leveled and harrowed the ground.
🐴 Step 2: Laid down 90 Jelka hit top mats (duly overseen and quality-checked by Pepper the yard cat 🐾).
🐴 Step 3: The lovely team at Shetland to Shires Shelters installed our brand-new two-horse field shelter on Thursday.

What’s left to do:
🚜 Spread 5 tonnes of sand over the mats when the delivery gets to us.
🔨 Add sleepers for the edging
🚜 Put up new fencing and link it directly to our existing sand pen

Still plenty of graft to go, but we’re really pleased with how it’s coming together! More progress photos to follow. 🚜🐴✨

What do we do during the summer holidays? It's the perfect time for a deep clean! 🧹Even with most of our horses only in...
30/07/2026

What do we do during the summer holidays? It's the perfect time for a deep clean! 🧹
Even with most of our horses only in during the day, it’s amazing how much grime builds up over the winter. Our team has been hard at work scrubbing walls and floors, (our new electric scrubber has helped reduce the strain!) dusting down, and giving everything a fresh coat of paint and varnish.

The stable barn is almost finished, and next up is the main yard to get everything sparkling for the start of the new term! 🐴🧽

We are also working on some exciting new projects over the summer, so keep an eye out for posts about the progress on these too.

24/07/2026

The mini's and school horses are enjoying their summer holiday break out in the fields together. I think they think they are in Spain instead of England!

We have three spaces left on our summer workshops in August, designed for young people aged 12 years old and above. See...
23/07/2026

We have three spaces left on our summer workshops in August, designed for young people aged 12 years old and above. See details below and please get in touch if you would like more information.

Mini horse logic: If it keeps us cool, it’s a friend. 🦄💨Big horse logic: That giant spinning metal monster is definitely...
11/07/2026

Mini horse logic: If it keeps us cool, it’s a friend. 🦄💨
Big horse logic: That giant spinning metal monster is definitely going to eat us! 🦖😂

Snowball and Pie have loved standing right in front of the yard fan this week, letting it blow their forelocks like a L'Oreal advert! Meanwhile, the big horses are still highly suspicious of the strange whirring thing in the corner and are strictly keeping their distance.
The staff and students have also been making the most of the fan and misting showers to stay cool.
Heatwave survival mode: fully activated! Hopefully not too many more days to go.☀️😎

☀️ How are we keeping the horses cool in this heat? 🐴👇In order to keep our horses comfortable during this heatwave, we h...
25/06/2026

☀️ How are we keeping the horses cool in this heat? 🐴👇

In order to keep our horses comfortable during this heatwave, we have given them a few days off work.

They come into their stables in the morning for their breakfast and a snooze while we get the poo-picking done before it gets too hot. The horses get turned back out at around 11am; we hose them off and put on wet fly rugs that have been soaked in a water bucket, which works wonders to help keep them cool. 💦

We are incredibly lucky to have lots of shade out in our paddocks from trees, hedging, and field shelters, so the horses are actually more comfortable out than in as the day heats up! We have also fans in the barn and on the yard to help keep the horses and staff cooler while on the yard.

As for the rest of the gang:

🐴 The Minis: They have all had their manes plaited to keep them comfortable, as they have such long, thick hair and they are enjoying the shade of the trees in the Orchard.

🧂 Supplements: All the horses have been having additional electrosalts added to their breakfasts to encourage them to keep drinking and replace any vital salts lost if they sweat.

🦔 Wildlife: We’ve put water bowls out in the garden and across the yard for our local wildlife to use.

🐶🐱 The House Crew: Millie is keeping cool with her icepack necklace! She and the yard cats are spending most of the day inside the house, snoozing somewhere shady, including Millies bed!

A big thank you to the Progressive Strides at Thurleigh Equestrian Centre staff, who have all come in to help the yard staff on the yard in the mornings to get the work finished early while the students are off. We do have the best team!

Stay safe and stay cool, everyone! 🧊🍦

Address

Mill Road
Bedford
MK442DP

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday 8am - 8pm
Sunday 8am - 8pm

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